Family
by Blissful Turtle
Summary: A moment of bonding between Chrono and Fate.


Family

By

Blissful Turtle

Chrono slammed the textbook shut with a sigh. He was already a highly skilled mage in his own right, but he stubbornly refused to be anything less then the best. And when it came to studying the more advanced magic, even he sometimes needed a little extra help. His mother was more than willing to help him but he just couldn't bring himself to ask her, because he thought it would make him appear childish. And of course his friend Yuuno was a great study buddy, practically invaluable when it came to learning about defense and support, but he was on a dig site somewhere studying "a truly impressive archeological find". _Maybe I should just call Amy,_ the black haired boy thought to himself with a smile. _If nothing else, it will be a good excuse to spend some time with her. Alone. Uninterrupted. _With that uncharacteristic smirk still on his face, he glanced at the clock and was surprised by how late it was. _Maybe I'll just brush my teeth and go to bed…but tomorrow I will definitely call her._

Fully intending to carry out his plan, Chrono began heading towards the bathroom when he noticed the light on in his sister's room. _'Sister', that still feels a little odd. We went from being enemies, to allies to family so quickly. It doesn't feel bad, just different._ He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. _This is no time to be thinking like this, she should have been in bed hours ago._ Mildly annoyed that Fate would be foolish enough to stay up so late (and completely ignoring the fact that he was guilty of the same), he softly knocked on her door.

After receiving permission to enter he slowly walked in and quickly observed the scene. The room itself was still pretty bare. Not that their mother didn't try to offer more creature comforts while they were living on earth, but because Fate had kindly refused. She was still afraid of appearing ungrateful to the Harlaown's. Still afraid of rejection.

The blond herself was sitting on the edge of the bed, trying unsuccessfully to avoid eye-contact by hiding her face on her familiars shoulder. However Chrono's keen eyes had already seen the puffy eyes and the tear streaks his sister was desperately trying to conceal. His annoyance was instantly replaced by concern. In a calm voice, barely above a wispier, he began. "What's wrong? You should have been asleep hours ago."

In a shaky voice, red eyes replied "Sorry we disturbed you. It won't happen again."

"No that's not what I mean"

"…"

The boy decided to change his approach a little. He walked over to the bed and knelt down, to be more eye level with Fate. "I'm just surprised that you aren't tired after our sparring match today. Have I been going too easy on you?"

The blond gave a weak smile at the joke. "No, that is definitely not the problem." A few more seconds of silence filled the air before Arf decided to join the conversation.

"Fate had another nightmare is all. She'll be fine in a little while so please don't concern yourself over it," the familiar stated while pulling the blond into an one-armed hug.

Shaking his head, Chrono continued, "I'm sorry Arf, but this matter is my concern. My sister is upset and I want to know why." Since he hardly ever referred to Fate (out loud) as his sister, the blond took immediate notice. After mulling it over for a moment, she decided that it would be safe to tell him about the dream.

"Well," Fate started with a sigh, "it was back during that battle with mother." She took a shaky breath and tried to continue. "She, she won't (hick) every single time… she won't (sob) won't take my hand." By now fresh tears were starting to fall. "I keep reaching out, but she… she always…" The girl was sobbing too hard to continue. The familiar moved to try and comfort her master as well as reassure Chrono.

"Please don't get the wrong idea," she began. "We appreciate everything that you and Lindy have done for us. But Fate still loves her mother, ya know?" More of a question than a statement. Sheepishly scratching the back of her head, Arf continued, "I, um, yeah I don't really get it myself…" was all she managed to say before trailing off completely.

Chrono appeared calm and cool on the outside, but inside he was seething. _She's still reliving that. Fate is still suffering because of that miserable bitch. I didn't expect her to get over it instantly but come on. Isn't it time for her to have a little peace in her life? How am I going to fix this? _After taking a moment to think about it, his mind finally settled on an idea. "Listen," he started, "what I am about to tell you does not leave this room. Treat it as above top secret classified, okay?" The two females nodded a conformation so he quickly continued, before he lost his nerve.

"My dad. I've heard so many stories about him, both from mom and the people at the bureau. But I don't remember him. I was too young. I've seen photos of us smiling together and assume he was happy. In fact whenever I think of him, I picture that smiling guy and recall all the wonderful tales I have heard about him. But they are not MY memories." Fate's eyes widened a little as she started getting the point of Chrono's speech.

"But," he continued, "I still regret not being able to have a happy memory with him, just one of my own that wasn't secondary knowledge from someone else." He stopped talking, unsure of how to go on or if his sister was really getting what he was trying to say. The girl in question understood all to well. She started nodding her head as the nightmare she suffered at last started to dissipate. Chrono went on. "And I think the hardest times are when things are going really well. I want to share those moments with him and know that I can't. It just reinforces the loss even more. I mourn him a little each day. As hard as it is to move forward sometimes, I just focus on the fact that I still have family and friends that will support me and my own life to concentrate on." Scratching the side of his face he smiled and finished his monologue with a simple, "sorry, I started to ramble a bit," while awkwardly shuffling his feet.

Arf was impressed. _This kid's pretty interesting. He's normally so serious but apparently he's a huge softy. I still wouldn't want to be on his bad side though._ After a small mental shiver at what being on Chrono's bad side would actually entail, she decided that the best way to break the odd silence that hung in the air would be a simple joke. "Wow! That's the most I've ever heard you say at once. Like, ever." The siblings shared a giggle.

Fate was deeply moved, not only by his words but the bigger meaning behind them. He just shared something incredibly personal with her, had spoken from his heart towards her. She was finally starting to not only adjust to her new family, but to feel accepted by them. Chrono had just broke though the defenses she had built up around herself, and before she even realized she was moving, she did something that no one in the room expected. She hugged him. More surprisingly, for exactly 1.5 seconds, he hugged back.

Arf raised a brow as the blushing siblings parted. As the boy turned to leave he stammered out, "Now get to bed, both of you!" With that he exited the room and was still so flustered by the hug that he failed to notice his mother, standing a few feet away, smiling.

**AN: So…this is the first thing I have ever written. I just noticed that in the series, Chrono and Fate both seem so serious and reserved in A's but in Striker's they were way more laid back with each other. So I wanted to give them a little bonding moment. Did I pull it off? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.**

**BT**

**Edit: Yes, I misspelled their last name...thank you Rogue D for pointing that out. Fixed. And thank you everyone for the kind reviews.  
**


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